URGE CONGRESS TO ACT TO HELP SAVE TERRI SCHINDLER-SCHIAVO

National Right to Life ^ | March 3, 2005

[amdgmary]

URGE CONGRESS TO ACT TO HELP SAVE TERRI SCHINDLER-SCHIAVO

URGENTLY ask your U.S. Senators and Representative to support the “Federal Terri’s Law”, the Incapacitated Person's Legal Protection Act, to give the Schindler family access to a federal court to argue for the life of their daughter, Terri Schindler Schiavo.

Representative Dave Weldon, M.D. (R-Fl-15) announced March 3 that he intends to introduce this bill on March 8.

Time is precious! Do not wait for the actual introduction of the bill to urge your Senators and Representatives to save Terri! Only a massive outpouring from their constituents will move Members of Congress to act quickly enough on this vital bill to give Terri her chance at life.

For contact information for your U.S. Senators and Representatives, click here http://www.firstgov.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml.

For more information on the Federal Terri’s Law, click here http://www.nrlc.org/euthanasia/Terri/TerriQAHC.html

[eccentric]

it takes a lot of words to save lives, doesn't it?

[amdgmary]

U.S. Senator Sam Brownback Today Commented on Terri Schiavo

http://www.earnedmedia.org/ssb0303.htm

To: National Desk

Contact Brian Hart, Communications Director; or Aaron Groote, Press Secretary, both for Senator Brownback, 202-224-6521

WASHINGTON, March 3 /Christian Wire Service/ -- U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today commented on Terri Schiavo and the court order to remove her life support.

“It is disheartening and devastating for those who respect the sanctity of life that a court could rule that Terri Schiavo’s food and water be cut off,” Brownback stated. “Make no mistake, this ruling didn’t simply allow for the removal of her feeding tubes keeping Terri alive, it mandated that removal. The fact that Terri can process food should, by itself, be enough to prove that she is alive. As a society, we must protect and show compassion for those who need it most, and Terri needs our help.

“Her parents have clearly stated that Terri responds to them and do not wish to see their daughter killed through neglect. Terri’s parents have the clear interest in her well being and deserve to have the legal right to care for her.

“Just last month, a wonderful young lady in Kansas, Sarah Scantlin, recently began to speak after 20 years in a coma, even though doctors said she would never speak again and would remain in a vegetative state. This should be inspiration to us all and is a perfect example of why Terri Schiavo’s food and water should not be cut off.”

Brownback was first elected to the Senate to fill the unexpired term of Bob Dole in 1996. He was returned by the voters of Kansas for a full term in 1998, and reelected this past November. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1994-1996. Brownback serves on the Appropriations, Judiciary, and Joint Economic Committees. He also is chairman of the Helsinki Commission.

[Ciexyz]

Terri ping

[amdgmary]

It's raining! I wanted to go to hospice with several other supporters but the rain is keeping us indoors.

[amdgmary]

Congress Steps in on Terri Schiavo Case

Congressman David Weldon (R-FL), a medical doctor, plans to introduce legislation titled the Incapacitated Person's Legal Protection Act (Terri's Law), which will hopefully help save Terri Schiavo's life. The legislation would give Terri and others in similar situations the same constitutional protection of due process as death row inmates. Already this week, attorneys for Terri's parents have filed six different motions to help save their daughter, all of which are now on appeal. Dr. Weldon's legislation would allow Terri to have her own counsel who can argue her case, a right given to any criminal in the United States. Terri is, of course, not a criminal but a woman fighting for her life. As Terri's fight intensifies, I cannot be more frank on the fate of this poor woman if her husband has his way. If Terri's feeding tubes are removed, she will face a slow death through starvation, which can take anywhere from 7 to 30 days. Terri's parents, as do Congressman Weldon and I, truly believe Terri is alive and deserves to continue living. Please call, e-mail, AND fax your U.S. representative to support Terri's Law -- truly life-saving legislation. Time is of the essence.

Family Research Council http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU05C03

[Ciexyz]

Yes! We can save Terri under the provisions of the 14th Amendment!

[nicmarlo]

kudos to the Senator! If only more would follow his lead!!! I shall pray they do. ping to you all (and sorry if you've already been pinged). Thanks CR, for your ping and amdgmary for your post.

[Chocolate Rose]

Congress Could Save Terri Schiavo's Life, Pro-Life Group Says

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 3, 2005

http://www.lifenews.com/bio745.html

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A spokesman for the National Right to Life Committee on Thursday said Congress may be able to help save Terri Schiavo's life by passing legislation authorizing her family to take their case through the federal court system.

“Congress can act to ensure a federal court hearing on whether or not Terri will die of starvation and dehydration,” said Lori Kehoe, who monitors Congressional issues for the group's medical ethics division.

“A proceeding known as the ‘writ of habeas corpus,’ which is protected by the U.S. Constitution, has been used for centuries to give a hearing to those whose liberty has been constrained by state courts in violation of the Constitution or federal laws," Kehoe explained.

To facilitate that, Florida Rep. Dave Weldon, a Republican, plans to introduce the Incapacitated Person's Legal Protection Act on Tuesday.

The legal battles fought by Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have been been exclusively in state court, except when the case has twice reached the Supreme Court.

Normally, anyone can use a writ of habeas corpus, but NRLC says Congress needs to act in this instance because "is unclear that the current statutes and precedents give [Terri] a right to it."

"Since the Constitution went into effect, Congress has frequently expanded, contracted, and modified both who has a right to habeas corpus and the standards for habeas corpus review," the pro-life organization said in a statement. "It has the clear constitutional authority to amend the law to make provision for cases like Terri's."

Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas supports the concept and might sponsor a Senate version of the legislation or help get the Senate to pass the Weldon bill.

“It is disheartening and devastating for those who respect the sanctity of life that a court could rule that Terri Schiavo's food and water be cut off,” Brownback stated

"As a society, we must protect and show compassion for those who need it most, and Terri needs our help," Brownback said.

Related web sites:
National Right to Life - http://www.NRLC.org

[wisconsinconservative]

Florida congressman to introduce bill which may provide hope for Terri Schiavo
http://www.floridabaptistwitness.com/3949.article

WASHINGTON (BP)--A U.S. congressman is preparing to introduce a bill that would provide incapacitated persons such as Terri Schiavo a complete review of their case in federal court.

The bill provides hope to her parents and other pro-lifers who are fighting to keep her alive, although there is some question as to whether it can pass Congress in time. It is scheduled to be introduced the week of March 6, while her feeding tube is scheduled to be removed March 18. The bill has yet to be introduced in the Senate.

The bill by Rep. Dave Weldon, R.-Fla., would provide Schiavo and other similarly incapacitated persons all the legal protections often associated with death row inmates, such as the right to a "de novo review" -- that is, a review by another court of all the evidence.

The bill, dubbed the Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act, would apply to disabled persons like Schiavo who are facing a court-ordered death. If her feeding tube is removed, she will die of starvation and dehydration within a matter of days.

"Terri has never been afforded independent counsel in a matter that will result in her life or death," Weldon said on the House floor March 3. "Terri has had no voice of her own in these legal proceedings.... The case of Terri Schiavo deserves a second look by an objective court."

Schiavo is the 41-year-old woman at the center of a "right-to-die" case that has captured national interest. In 1990 she suffered brain damage after her heart stopped. Since then some doctors have said she is in a persistent vegetative state, although her supporters and parents disagree and say she is in a minimally conscious state. With rehabilitation, her supporters say, she could improve.

In recent years Schiavo's parents have been in a court battle with her legal husband, Michael Schiavo, over whether she should live. Although Michael Schiavo says his wife would want to die, no written request from Terri Schiavo exists. He lives with his girlfriend, with whom he has fathered two children.

Attorney Ken Connor, who has represented Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in trying to keep Terri Schiavo alive, said the bill is "desperately needed."

"It's outrageous that people like Ted Bundy and the BTK killer have more legal protections than someone like Terri Schiavo," Connor told Baptist Press. "[Serial killers] are entitled to counsel. They are entitled to effective representation. They are entitled to trial by jury."

Terri Schiavo, though, has not had the legal protections offered to death row inmates, Connor said.

"Her mom and dad have had a lawyer," he said. "Her husband has had a lawyer. But Terri Schiavo -- whose life hangs in the balance in these judicial proceedings -- has never had a lawyer to represent her interests."

Weldon, a medical doctor, discounted assertions that Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state.

"Evidence exists to the contrary," he said, noting that Schiavo can smile and cry. "Terri is not in a coma as I would define it, and I am a physician. She is not on a respirator or other 24-hour-a-day medical equipment."

Weldon said it is a "travesty" that Schiavo may be put to death simply "because she is not able to speak."

"The [bill] simply provides a final avenue for review of the case to ensure that an incapacitated person's constitutional rights of due process are maintained and that justice is done," the congressman said.

On Feb. 24, Florida Judge George W. Greer gave Michael Schiavo a victory, scheduling the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube for March 18 at 1 p.m. Eastern time. David Gibbs III, the lawyer for Terri Schiavo's parents, had asked Greer to allow the feeding tube to remain in as long as other cases and appeals concerning Schiavo were pending. But Greer refused, saying that because of the appeals "there appears to be no finality in sight to this process."

"The order by Judge Greer really is quite remarkable," Connor said. "It doesn't merely authorize her death. It directs the removal of the tube."

[TAdams8591]

God Bless David Weldon! Really a gutsy move. I applaud him.

Maybe Jeb's working with many good people behind the scenes.

Thank you for the ping. I've already been here but this thread could use more bumps.

Might I suggest we come back to bump it regularly? We need all the calls we can get!

[TAdams8591]

"Evidence exists to the contrary," he said, noting that Schiavo can smile and cry. "Terri is not in a coma as I would define it, and I am a physician. She is not on a respirator or other 24-hour-a-day medical equipment."

A doctor who gets it!!!! He really gets it!

Thank you for the post!

[wisconsinconservative]

A doctor who gets it!!!! He really gets it!

It's about bloody time, eh? Now if they can just get the bill thru and signed in time.

[wisconsinconservative]

Bumpity-Bump!

[Boardwalk]

This does not begin to address the slow, ugly death that would await her by starvation and dehydration. Don't try this at home!

[TAdams8591]

Phone calls and prayers should help that one, but it will be close!

[UCANSEE2]

I still wish I could figure out when action by the Federal government became the conservatives' cure-all.

That is a very thought provoking question.

I saw it as a last resort.

[Smartaleck]

"I still wish I could figure out when action by the Federal government became the conservatives' cure-all."

Scratching head.....dunno.

Odd that this would get so much positive attention while the SC stepping on the States about a moral issue would get blasted the day before?

[jwalsh07]

That is a very thought provoking question.

Why is that?

The fifth and fourteenth amendments are pretty clear on the right to life.

[Halls]

Give me a break. You know no one here appreciates your opinions, so I'm not sure why you stick around.

[UCANSEE2]

I wanted to say Thank You for posting the text of the actual bill. It really helps everyone understand exactly how it is being done, and helps them decide if the action being taken is what we really think is the legal and moral thing to do.

I know, in that very deepest part of me, that letting Terri die, the way that has been picked for her by everyone but her Mother and Father, is wrong.
A Death that will be painful. So she will be sedated.
A Death that will be slow. It takes time to die of thirst.
A Death that will be cruel. You get arrested if you do this to an animal.

What needs to happen is that if her husband wins, that they put Terri on live TV, 24hrs a day, until she is dead. If we, as a nation, allow this then we, as a nation, should have to watch.